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Reproductive Rights Profiles
Anna St. John’s Record Against Reproductive Freedom
We strongly oppose judge Anna St. John, Trump's Pick for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Key Takeaways
- Reproductive Freedom for All strongly opposes Anna St. John, Trump's Pick for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Reproductive Freedom for All opposes her nomination due to her record of hostility toward reproductive freedom and voting rights.
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- Anna St. John also has a record of attacking other fundamental rights, including LGBTQ+ equality, gender justice, immigrants’ rights and more.
- Trump has a deeply troubling track record of nominating judges who oppose reproductive freedom, reflecting the Trump administration’s vision for courts that are hostile to the basic reproductive rights and freedoms for all.
Who is Anna St. John?
Reproductive Freedom for All joined 19 coalition partners in opposing her nomination for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana for which she now serves. In 2026, Trump nominated St. John to serve on the United States Court of Appeals in the Firth Circuit.
St. John is the former President & General Counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI), an organization that engages in strategic litigation that undermines a variety of fundamental freedoms—including reproductive freedom.
She is also a member of several organizations with anti-reproductive freedom agendas and has engaged in anti-LGBTQ+, anti-consumer, anti-immigrant, and anti-gender justice litigation.
Dive Deeper: Anna St. John’s Anti-Repro Record
Advanced Strategic Litigation to Undermine Reproductive Freedom
St. John is the former President & General Counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI), an organization that engages in litigation that undermines a variety of fundamental freedoms—including reproductive freedom.
- HLLI engaged in litigation that prevented a pro-reproductive rights organization from receiving court-awarded settlement funds by successfully framing support for abortion access as a disqualifying factor for charitable funding.
- HLLI attempted to block millions of dollars stemming from a court-awarded settlement from being distributed to organizations that are fighting to protect reproductive health privacy, like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Maintains Ties to Anti-Abortion Organizations
St. John is a member of several organizations that advance anti-reproductive freedom agendas.
St. John has been an active member of the Federalist Society since 2003 and has served on the Executive Committee of the Free Speech Practice Group since 2021.
She has also participated in numerous Federalist Society events on topics running from anti-transgender ideology to conservative interpretations of feminism.
The Federalist Society is a well-funded, conservative legal network that exerts influence through law schools, professional networks, and conferences, and over the judiciary at large. It serves as a talent and influence pipeline for the conservative movement to cultivate young lawyers and then pack the courts with judges who will execute their unpopular agenda.
St. John also was a Visiting Fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) in 2024 and wrote articles for their website.
IWF is an anti-abortion organization that claims to offer an alternative to mainstream feminism. IWF generally opposes abortion access and has supported restrictions at both state and federal levels, in addition to opposing the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage benefit. They also oppose other policies that are essential for women’s equality, including the Violence Against Women Act, paid family leave mandates, Title IX enforcement, and equal pay legislation. IWF is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, and is partially funded by the Heritage Foundation.
Career
- Bachelor of Arts, Louisiana State University, 2001
- Master of Arts, Columbia University, 2006
- Juris Doctor, Columbia Law School, 2006
- Clerk to Hon. Rhesa H. Barksdale, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2006-2007
- Covington & Burling LLP, 2005-2014
- Summer Associate, 2005
- Associate, 2006, 2007-2014
- Attorney/Of Counsel, St. John Law Firm LLC, 2015-Present
- Visiting Fellow, Independent Women’s Forum, 2024
- Center for Class Action Fairness –merged with the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute in 2019
- Attorney, Center for Class Action Fairness, 2015
- Attorney, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Center for Class Action Fairness, 2015-2019
- Attorney, Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, 2019-Present
- President & General Counsel, Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, 2020-Present
Anna St. John's Record Against LGBTQIA+ Equality
St. John has a record of opposing LGBTQIA+ equality, contributing to amicus briefs in cases that challenge state bans on transgender girls participating in school sports, and a case arguing in favor of discriminating against LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Anna St. John's Record Against Gender Justice:
St. John and her organization HLLI have actively opposed efforts to protect survivors of workplace sexual harassment and assault. Specifically, HLLI has advocated against the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which Congress passed in 2022 with bipartisan support. This law allows survivors to choose whether to bring their claims in court or arbitration, rather than being forced into confidential arbitration proceedings that often favor employers and keep patterns of abuse hidden.
Anna St. John's Record Against Immigration
She has espoused anti-immigration views and mischaracterized the 2022 Biden Administration’s asylum rule, authoring an anti-immigration article with the inflammatory title: “One Asylum Rule is Opening the Immigration Floodgates Even Wider.”
The Big Picture
Trump has a deeply troubling track record of nominating judges who oppose reproductive freedom, reflecting the Trump administration’s vision for courts that are hostile to the basic reproductive rights and freedoms for all.
Decisions made by these judges will impact our health, access to care, and daily lives, and we deserve to know whether these nominees are committed to fairness and equality under the law or if they are beholden to an ideology or agenda opposing reproductive freedom.
Citations and Sources
- Anna St. John, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 8, 2026).
- Hesse v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-0972-LAP, 2022 WL 1217135 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2022).
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- Decl. of Theodore Frank in Supp. of Obj., In re Google Location History Litig., No. 5:18-cv-05062-EJD (N.D. Cal. Mar. 4, 2024), ECF No. 355.
- Anna St. John, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees, P. 5, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 8, 2026).
- Anna St. John, Supreme Court Disallows Challenge to Abortion Drug Regulations in FDA v. Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine, IWF (June 14, 2024), https://www.independentwomen.com/2024/06/14/supreme-court-disallows-challenge-to-abortion-drug-regulations-in-fda-v-alliance-for-hippocratic-medicine/.
- About, Independent Women’s Forum, https://www.independentwomen.com/about/.
- Katherine Doyle, Donations Have Surged to Groups Linked to Conservative Project 2025, NBC (Nov. 17, 2023), https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/donations-surged-groups-linked-conservative-project-2025-rcna125638.
- State of WV v. B.P.J., No. 24-43 (U.S. argued Jan. 13, 2026); Little v. Hecox, No. 24-38 (U.S. argued Jan. 13, 2026); Anna St. John, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees, P. 17, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 8, 2026).
- 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023); Anna St. John, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees, P. 17, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 8, 2026).
- Anna St. John, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees Attachment Package, P. 74, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 8, 2026).
- Anna St. John, One Asylum Rule Is Opening The Immigration Floodgates Even Wider, IWF (Feb. 17, 2024), https://www.independentwomen.com/2024/02/17/one-asylum-rule-is-opening-the-immigration-floodgates/.
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